


That Thompson Boy

by Stressedtoimpress



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Child Abuse, Child Abuse, FFH actually is setting something up so YEET, Gen, I started this pre-FFH so I did not have it in mind when writing it, I'm Bad At Tagging, If this fic happened in the same timeline as FFH, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, MCU Flash Thompson redemption arc make it happen, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), This was also supposed to teach a lesson bout not judging other, Whump, and also the comics because if you do you’ll see where I’m coming from with this, but I didn’t lay it on too thick, didn’t want to slap you in the face with cheesy morals, read the notes, so also pre everything after that, then FFH would have played out a lil differently, yes I am tagging it as canonical because it’s canon to the comics okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 07:11:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19458991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stressedtoimpress/pseuds/Stressedtoimpress
Summary: There wasn’t much to know about Eugene “Flash” Thompson. He has a little sister. His father is a highly respected cop who buys him anything he wants. He’s not very smart and only got into Midtown because his parents have money. He can’t stand people being better than him. He does whatever he wants without thinking of the consequences. He puts down other people for his own enjoyment. He’s your standard high school bully, and really that’s all you need to know. Yeah, he sucked to deal with, but he was just another jerk. Over the years, Peter had learned to pay him no mind.That was, until he found Flash on the phone and crying in the bathroom during fourth period.*no need to worry about FFH spoilers this fic wouldn’t even work on the same timeline as FFH*





	That Thompson Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Okokok so this takes place a little after homecoming but like a long while before Infinity War, and OBVIOUSLY doesn’t fit in the canon timeline because of what we see in FFH lol. Speaking of, I started writing this before FFH came out but I saw FFH and there were a two brief moments (the first being blink and you’ll miss it) implying he has neglectful parents and as a huge fan of comic Flash and Agent Venom I was not disappointed.
> 
> Obviously this was based on the 90’s comic of the same name. It’s a pretty good comic, you should read it.

There wasn’t much to know about Eugene “Flash” Thompson. He has a little sister. His father is a highly respected cop who buys him anything he wants. He’s not very smart and only got into Midtown because his parents have money. He can’t stand people being better than him. He does whatever he wants without thinking of the consequences. He puts down other people for his own enjoyment. He’s your standard high school bully, and really that’s all you need to know. Yeah, he sucked to deal with, but he was just another jerk. Over the years, Peter had learned to pay him no mind.

That was, until he found Flash on the phone and crying in the bathroom during fourth period.

Peter could tell someone was on the phone before he even entered the bathroom due to his quite untimely enhanced hearing. As he got closer, the words became clearer, there was a man in the other end, yelling something about how it was ‘all your fault and how ‘I’m ashamed to call you my son’. Just your standard father yelling at his son.

Peter decided he wasn’t going to listen in as this clearly wasn’t his business, but figured he’d check on the kid when the phone call was over, as his father seemed rather harsh. But then, the kid spoke up, and it was a voice he didn’t expect to hear.

_Flash._ Well, this wasn’t something he thought he’d ever walk in on. He still tried his best not to eavesdrop, but this was _Flash Thompson,_ he couldn’t help it if a couple things Flash said slipped through.

Peter continued to walk towards the bathroom, but more cautiously this time, trying his best to remain composed.

“I can’t right now, I’m in the middle of school! Who do you think you are to demand that?” Peter overheard Flash say. Even though he was arguing back, there was a layer of fear coating his voice. Peter picked up his pace as he continued down the hall. There was some incoherent yelling on the other end.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was going to happen, _honestly!_ Just, please leave her out of it.” Flash said, voice shaking. Any traces of confidence in his voice vanished instantly. Peter picked his pace up a bit more.

Peter didn’t pick up what was said next, but it didn’t sound pretty. When he was almost there, he realized the heartbeat. The closer Peter was getting, the louder he could hear Flash’s heart furiously pounding. What was going on?

Peter knew he should walk away and leave Flash to his conversation, there was a different bathroom not even two minutes away he could go to, but he couldn’t help but head in to see if something was wrong.

As soon as Peter walked in, Flash cut his dad off, saying “I have to get to class, I’ll call you back later,” and shoving his phone into his pocket angrily, glaring daggers at Peter.

Peter frowned, this wasn’t the Flash he was used to. “Hey, What happened?” He asked, shooting the other boy a concerned look. Sure, Flash was a jerk, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t show some compassion.

Unfortunately showing compassion didn’t seem to have any effect.

“ _Fuck off,_ Parker,” snapped Flash, his voice dripping with venom as Peter’s back hit the wall with a thud and he bolted out of the bathroom

Peter brushed it off. Maybe Flash was just being a bad kid, or maybe his dad finally decided he wasn’t going to waste his money anymore on whatever expensive thing it was Flash wanted this time.

But still, this was weird. Flash had been… apologetic and seemingly even _scared._ Even when He had tried to argue back, he hadn’t been truly confident in his argument, like he feared what was coming next. This wasn’t the Flash that Peter knew, the Flash Peter knew was the kind of person who blew up in anger during fights, even if he knew he was wrong.

Peter had so many questions. What did Flash do? Why was his father mad? Who was ‘she’ _?_ He ignored it, it _is_ Flash after all, and it’s not like he’s impervious to fear. But even though he tried to ignore it, he found himself noticing things about Flash not long after.

Like how his little sister always seemed to be his top priority, and he was willing to drop everything if she needed anything. Or how he never seemed to talk about his parents, and his attitude always changed for the worst when the topic was brought up. Or how sometimes he would wear jackets and long pants even when everyone else was shedding as many layers as possible. Or how one time he seemed to be holding his shoulder a bit off, and another time he came in with a slight limp. Or how he seemingly missed days of school at random and never told anyone why.

Surprisingly, Peter seemed to be the only person to notice.

One day after school, Ned was over at Peter’s place building a LEGO Millenium Falcon when he began recounting the experience he had with Flash earlier that day.

“I swear, that guy doesn’t know how much he hurts people!” Ned said as he ripped apart two LEGO pieces in frustration.

Peter, who had been lying on his stomach, sat up and took a moment to consider the statement. “I dunno man, I think something’s up with him.”

Ned looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Peter clicked a couple LEGO pieces into place. “I mean like, haven’t you noticed anything off about him?”

“Like what?”

“He was absent for five days last month.”

“So? Maybe he was sick.”

“But it’s not just last month, it’s all of them! He misses days like, all the time. No one is sick _that_ often.”

“Why are you keeping track?”

Ned had him there. What was he supposed to say? _I found my bully crying in the bathroom and now I’m concerned for him even though he demeans and hurts me day by day and crying isn’t that abnormal anyways?_ “I don’t know…I’m observant I guess?”

“He’s probably just ditching.” Ned ripped open the next pack of LEGOs.

“Yeah, I guess.” Peter pursed his lips, deciding to drop the topic. He told himself it was fine, every kid gets scolded by their parents, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more sinister going on. He just kept his head down and tried not to think about it.

Then, on February 10, 2016, everything changed. Flash had seemed particularly irritated that day, snapping at anyone who looked at him the wrong way. Of course, that wasn’t too weird, and neither was the fact that he was trying to drag on decathlon practice longer than agreed upon. These weren’t uncommon for him, and everyone was used to it by now, but he was _really_ pushing it today.

“Come on, we _need_ the extra practice. We fucking suck at this, we only have so much time!” He practically whined, even though they were already supposed to get out fifteen minutes ago.

“We have places to be, if you’re so concerned about it, practice on your own time. If you think we need the practice _that_ badly, maybe you’re the one who sucks at this, _Eugene_.” MJ snarked back at him.

Flash knit his eyebrows in a look of…annoyance? Contempt? Disappointment? Peter really wasn’t quite sure. That was another thing he had observed about Flash, he was such a hard human to read.

The rest of the team just rolled their eyes and groaned as they picked us their bags to leave. Peter did the same, but on his way out he realized that Flash was… _lingering,_ in a way. Taking extra long to pack his things, walking rather slowly and stopping to read every poster on the wall even though he’d seen them a million times before.

Something was clearly up with him, but once again, Peter just tried to ignore it, so he headed out the door and went home, just like everyone else. Little did he know his questions were going to be answered the coming evening.

If was 9:32 PM on a cold Wednesday night, and Peter was on patrol when his quite opportune enhanced hearing began to pick something up—screams, of a young girl. He couldn’t exactly make out what she was saying, but she was certainly in danger. This girl’s screams hurt so much to hear, Peter had to get to her as soon as possible. He didn’t think he could stand to hear them any longer.

He jumped into action, dashing across rooftops and swinging between buildings as quickly as he could. The closer he got, the more words he could make out.

_“Stop! Please! H…”_

_“You’re hurting…”_

_“I’m sorry, please stop! This isn’t…”_

He swung faster, the girl’s shrill cries ringing in his ears.

_“This is my fault! I won’t do it again! He doesn’t…”_

_“I’m begging you, I’ll do anything! Just stop hurting…”_

_“I’ve learned my lesson, I swear! He’s going to…”_

Faster. He had to go faster. He could make it in time to save this girl. He swung across NYC faster than he had in a long time, feeling the cold wind bite at him, even through the suit. He had to get there fast, he had to hurry—

But then he finally got close enough to make out full sentences, and it hit him.

“ _Please stop it! You’re hurting him!_

She wasn’t yelling for herself to stop getting hurt.

_“It isn’t his fault, he didn’t do anything!”_

She wasn’t the one in danger.

_“It’s my fault! I’m sorry! Please! He doesn’t deserve this!”_

She was trying to stop someone else from getting hurt

_Oh shit._

He was almost there, he could feel it. The girl’s cries were growing louder and louder. He was going to save whoever this “him” was, he was going to do it, he just had to go faster and faster and faster _fasterfasterfasterfaster—_

He hit the wall of the house with an audible slam, no longer needing his super-hearing to hear the screams. He jiggled the nearest window to try and get it open, but no luck. Welp, let’s hope they have house insurance _._ With a swift kick, the window shattered into pieces and Peter was already inside.

Now, Peter didn’t know exactly what he was going to see when he finally got there. Obviously he was going to see a crying girl, and obviously he was going to see some guy getting hurt by someone else, but other than that there was a bunch of possible situations this could be. What he did _not_ expect was to see was his bully broken and bloody at the hands of an older man Peter recognized as his father.

Peter had to do a double take. _Flash Thompson_ was lying on the ground bleeding, bruised, and possibly unconscious, whilst his father, for lack of better terms, _beat the everloving shit out of him._

Peter didn’t even have time to wrap his head around it because he needed to do something—stat. Luckily his hero instincts kicked in and before he knew what was happening, Mr. Thompson was webbed to the wall and the girl was dragging Flash into the next room.

Mr. Thompson, who was quite clearly drunk off his ass, was _very_ unhappy to find himself immobilized, and was trying everything he could to break the webs, kicking and shaking to no avail. Peter was glad he’d webbed over his mouth too, because had he been able to speak hers certain some very _colorful_ language would be flying around the house.

“Karen, call the police for me,” He said quietly.

“Already on it,” Karen replied, her voice seemingly less chipper than usual. Even in somber situations she was always upbeat, bringing light to the situation, but even she didn’t know how to handle this. Unlike the rest of the people they save, they _knew_ flash, and they didn’t know what to do

There’s a lot of things that Peter wanted to say to the bastard, but he had to restrain himself from screaming at the father and focus on the kids.

He ran into the next room over to see the girl—who he presumed was Flash’s sister—already kneeling at a definitely unconscious Flash’s side, examining his wounds. Surprisingly, she’d already stopped crying.

He knelt down next to the girl, and she shot him a red-eyed glance but continued checking Flash’s injuries. Karen’s voice talking to a 911 operator rang in the back of his ears, but he couldn’t hear it over the sound of his own heartbeat. Literally, his

heart was pounding harder than it ever had before.

“Hey, uh—what’s your name?” Peter supplied lamely.

“Jessie,” she said in almost a whisper.

“Nice to meet you Jessie, I’m Spider-Man—”

“I know,” she abruptly cut him off. Right, duh, everyone in NYC knows who Spider-Man is, that was a dumb desicion, good going Peter. “It’s ‘cause my brother is a huge fan of yours, ‘cause you’re always looking out for the little guys.” She paused, her eyes getting teary again before she hastily wiped them. “Could you open that for me?” She pointed at the bottom drawer of the wardrobe in front of them.

He opened the drawer, doing everything he could to avert his eyes from the boy lying on the floor in front of them, to find a first aid kit. He picked it up and held it out to her. “This is what you wanted, right?”

Jessie nodded and took the kit from his hands before getting up and heading to the kitchen. He stood up to follow her but she was back before he was even out the door, a wet washcloth in her hands.

She knelt down again and began to nurse his wounds, wiping away any excess blood and cleaning out the dirt. He looked at her for a moment, not at her cleaning Flash’s wounds, but at _her._ She just looked so impossibly old, with her furrowed brows and determined look. She was about to start disinfecting the more severe gashes when he spoke again.

“I called 911. Paramedics are on the way.”

Her breath hitched, and for just a moment she looked _scared_ , but any hint of emotion was quickly buried again. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Peter inquired. That wasn’t the reaction he was expecting.

“Okay,” she confirmed as she went back to her nursing.

“So um…how old are you?”

“Eleven.”

_Eleven._ This girl was _eleven._

Peter wanted to say ‘you seem mature for your age’ but he knew that he should do exactly not that. Kids don’t appreciate being called mature if they were forced to grow up too fast, he knows from experience.

Peter finally allowed his eyes to fall onto Flash, and the sight of it sickened him. He’s had to see people beaten unconscious before, it’s part of the job. Hell, he’s seen _worse,_ but when it’s not only someone you know, but someone you _thought_ you knew, it’s another degree of vile.

The boy was covered in bruises which were beginning to turn an ugly shade of green, and he definitely had two black eyes. He was bleeding in several places, but the bleeding had gone down thanks to Jessie, who was now beginning to bandage the worst of them.

“So, how bad is it?” He inquired.

“He’s definitely broken a couple of ribs, and with how hard his head hit the wall he might have a concussion. The bruises will probably be fine, but the cuts need to be attended to as soon as possible,” she said, voice wavering, wrapping a gash on his arm as she spoke.

“Tell me, your dad, has he…has it ever been this bad before?”

“No. He’s—he’s never gone unconscious before.” Her voice was really shaking now. “I’ve always take—taken care of him whenever he—” a few tears fell down her face. “But now…now it’s so bad I—I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t called 911.” More tears, a couple sobs in between words. “It’s all my fault. Dad was gonna hit _me_ but he _had_ to stand up for me!” She wiped her eyes angrily, full on sobbing now, unable to put on a brave face any longer. “And I just keep letting him _suffer!_ I keep—keep telling myself that I’m going to go to the police so he doesn’t have to suffer just to keep our stupid family together but...I just—I was just too much of a _coward_!”

She threw the washcloth down to the ground in frustration, her sobs ringing through the household. Peter was at a loss for words. Everything made sense now, his harsh attitude, covering up on hot days, having occasional random injuries and missing days of school—Flash was in _pain,_ taking the beating so his sister wouldn’t have to, and was covering it up to try and keep their family as normal as possible.

Peter felt bile rise in the back of his throat, burning with anger and disgust, both at Mr. Thompson, and at himself. How could someone treat their kids like this, and _how had Peter not realized._ The signs were there, and he _saw them,_ he was just too biased against Flash to realize.

He placed a hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “Hey, hey, it’s alright.” He ensured. “This is _not_ your fault, this is no one’s fault but your father’s. Everyone gets scared, and asking for help is hard. The police are on the way, you guys won’t have to go through this ever again.”

Jessie sniffed, wiping her eyes again, clearly trying to stop crying but failing. “Thank you, Spider-Man. I don’t know if this would ever have stopped if you hadn’t intervened. I don’t know if I would have been able to help him” She hugged her knees to her chest. “Eugene’s gonna have a field day when he finds out _you_ saved him,” she said with a sad laugh, several more tears falling down her face.

Peter smiled and then nodded in understanding. “You always take care of him when your father…?”

“Yeah. Sometimes I make him stay home if it’s too bad. Mom taught me how to help. He keeps letting himself get hurt for me, it’s the least I could do”

“I see. About that, where is your mom anyways? Does she always let this happen?”

“She’s out with some friends, and…” a pause, and then she sighed. “Yeah, she never stops it. She’s too scared to stand up to him too. It sucks, but it could be worse I guess. He always buys us stuff to try and make up for…hurting us.”

_That’s_ what all his shit was? All of the fancy cars and clothes and newest tech, they were just compensation for fucking _abuse_?

“Did that…did that what made it harder to leave?”

She furrowed her brows. “I don’t—I don't _know!_ I don’t know why it was so hard to leave but I was just so...so...so _scared_ to speak up about it I...I just don’t know.” Her voice got quieter and quieter as she spoke. “Maybe if he were a purely hateful and bitter man it would be easier to leave, but when he says ‘I’m sorry, I love you so much, and I won’t do it again’ after hitting you and then takes you out for ice cream...you really want to believe him, you know?”

Those were the words that broke Peter’s heart. It wasn’t just trying to keep the family together or the compensation that made Flash take the beating. it was hope that he would change, and actually _be their dad_.

Peter could hear sirens in the distance. She couldn’t hear them yet, but it was probably his time to dash. But first, he had something to say.

“Being Spider-Man, I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff. I’ve helped a lot of kids and you...you are one of the strongest kids I’ve seen.” He glanced back down at Flash again, the broken boy he thought that he knew. This time sorrow washed over him rather than disgust. He just felt so incredibly _sad_ that this had to happen. If his dad hadn’t been crooked maybe he wouldn’t have turned out a bully. If he hadn’t been good at covering his tracks maybe he wouldn’t have suffered. But now’s not the time for ‘what-if’s,’ he had to leave before the police got there.

When he got to school the next day, he expected it to be the talk of the school, but surprisingly the entire thing was kept on the down-low. Of course people questioned why Flash was reportedly in the hospital, but word of some accident was being spread around. Flash’s father was an upstanding member of the community, _of course_ no one was talking about how it was his fault.

Peter knew that eventually the truth was going to get out. Peter knew that Flash couldn’t hide under the guise of a spoiled child forever; not after this. Peter knew that Flash should never know that it was Peter who saved him, and probably won’t treat Peter any less different.

But that didn’t stop Peter from treating Flash a little more nicely from that point on, and it didn’t stop him from getting to know some of the other people he thought to be heartless, either. 

**Author's Note:**

> When Flash says “I can’t right now” he’s referring to driving his father home from a bar because he’s drunk, because in the comic I named this after he goes to several different bars before he finds his father and helps him walk home. Thought I should clarify that idk, it was definitely hard to pick up on but I didn’t want to reveal too much so


End file.
